REINAS: the Real-time Environmental Information Network and Analysis System

The Real-Time Environmental Information Network and Analysis System (REINAS) is a distributed system supporting the conduct of regional environmental science research at the desk top. Continuous real-time data acquired from dispersed sensors is stored in a logically integrated but physically distributed data base. An integrated problemsolving environment is under development which supports visualization and modeling. REINAS is intended to provide insight into historical, current, and predicted oceanographic and meteorological conditions. REINAS permits both collaborative and single-user scientific work in a distributed environment

Reinas: A real-time system for managing environmental data

Managing scientific data is a challenging task, and many of the problems it presents have yet to be adequately solved. The Real-time Environmental Information Network and Analysis System (REINAS) is an operational solution to the problem of collecting and distributing environmental data in a real-time context, as well as supporting data acquisition, retrieval, visualization and long-term data maintenance. The system is built around one or more databases and has been developed to support both real-time and retrospective regional scale environmental science. Continuous real-time data is acquired from dispersed sensors and input to a logically integrated but physically distributed system. The database engine provides a powerful structure to handle data management, but current database technology can have difficulty meeting the performance requirements that a large real-time environmental system demands. The REINAS architecture and current status is described in detail, including the challenges that were addressed in the construction of an operational system which includes a regional wireless instrumentation network comprised of over 200 instrument platforms and 1500 sensor streams producing real-time data of interest to thousands of users